Orissa: Operation Hamla 2” kicks off in Paradip for costal security

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Report by Amarnath Parida; Paradip: A large stretch of the sea off the Orissa coast turned into a virtual war zone today as the two-day “Operation Hamla 2”, a security drill, began with Indian Navy, Coast Guard and district & marine police, local fishermen and CISF personnel in Paradip on Tuesday.

Operation Hamla 2, the 48-hour security drill on land and sea will be a virtual cat and mouse game, where the forces would protect designated areas from being breached by undercover commandos who would act as terrorists. For this, three naval warships, three ships of coast guards, two ships of Paradip Marine police and two hi-speed power boats were engaged for the security drill.

As many as five platoons of force along with 60 officers including 48 sub inspectors & assistant sub inspectors. Five inspectors and two deputy superintendent of police were deployed along the coast under the direct supervision of the Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police (SP) to keep a watch on the sea during the drill.

This was the fourth such exercise on the Orissa coast, which had earlier witnessed similar mock war drills in July 2009 and February ‘2010. The two earlier operations were christened Operation Gauntlet, Operation Rakshak and Operation Hamala.

One senior police officer said that the exercise was aimed at warding off possible terror attacks and preventing infiltration, which was a major problem in certain coastal stretches of the state. The security drill has been covered all the six coastal districts but the exact locations had been kept a secret for security reasons. - He added.

Lack of security along large stretches of Orissa’s 480-km coastline makes it vulnerable to possible terrorist attacks. The government remains worried as vital security installations including two missile test ranges are situated along the coast in Balasore and Kendrapara districts. The other major target, according to official sources, could be the 12th century Jagannath temple at Puri.

Police personnel and coast guard personnel pressed into service and verified the identification of local fishermen. They also searched boats, vessels and other hide outs to trace the entry of terrorists in Paradip coast. Commandant, Coast Guard, Paradip Mr Saroj Kumar Sahu is monitoring the operation Hamala 2 in Paradip with the cooperation of other district police and fishery officials.